Turns out I'll be spending the second week in July going for Biztalk training. Though the subject matter may be a bit dry, I think it's going to be an excellent course.

Biztalk, for those of you not in the know, is a Microsoft server that's designed for application integration. It's used to transfer data between disparate systems, through XML-based messaging. The central Biztalk engine has a few major components:

• a Messaging component, which allows communication across a wide range of software. It offers pluggable adapters for different types of communication, such as FTP, STMP/POP, web services, etc.
• an Orchastration component, which allows the creation and execution of business processes in a graphical environment.
• a business rules engine, so you can change business rules on the fly (as opposed to compiling and deploying a .net assembly)
• an enterprise single-sign on (SSO) tool

We're going to be using Biztalk a lot in our upcoming SOA projects, so I'm thrilled to be able to get this training. Better yet, it's in Waltham, MA, so after class I can take a trip to Jacob Wirth's for a pint of Jake's Dark!